Intermittent fasting diet - 1 week and why i quit

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Hello everyone,
I tried intermittend fasting diet for a week. (Window 16:8) It was a short one and i had to quit even though i was seeing a great result! I lost a little more than 1 kg (58.6kg to 57.2kg / height 168cm) during that short time and i was happy losing it, until i miss my period following week.
My period have been super regular for years so it made me freak out a bit when it wasn’t happening. Tested pregnancy test and it came out negative, and now i’m nervously waiting for my period to come back. I stopped IF diet and eat at times i’d normally would, in fact, i even eat extra calories but still there’s absolutely no sign of coming!
I thought about many reasons but i feel like IF diet may have broke the cycle in my body, because i sometimes fasted until 2pm which never have happened in my entire life. 😞
What’s your thoughts on this? Please if you know how to go back to the regular cycle, and get my period back, i’d love to hear! Thank you
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Replies

  • rikkejohnsenrij
    rikkejohnsenrij Posts: 510 Member
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    I dont think it was IF. I've done 5:2 for quite a while, without affecting my period. (I've also done weirder/stricter diets several years ago).
    I think you have to be very extreme to affect your period in only a week, so I would definetely seek a doctor, as you always should when something like that happens
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    Nanananaba wrote: »
    I thought about many reasons but i feel like IF diet may have broke the cycle in my body, because i sometimes fasted until 2pm which never have happened in my entire life. 😞
    What’s your thoughts on this? Please if you know how to go back to the regular cycle, and get my period back, i’d love to hear! Thank you

    I think it would take longer than a week of eating differently to dramatically affect your menstrual cycle permenently.
    It is probably not a huge cause for concern until you miss your period for a couple of months. Since it is only a week late you might wait and see for a bit or just go see a doctor and get checked out. Are you having other symptoms? How old are you?
    An irregular or missing period could be many things.

    When my previously regular period became irregular I went to a doctor. I'm in my 40's and pregnancy was not a possibility. I had other symptoms like exhaustion and migraines. In my case, I was diagnosed hypothyroid. My period became more regular after being treated for that.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    edited September 2018
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    This may be more about how much you are eating in general or how much body fat you still have. Women will stop menses if/when their nutrition and/or body weight gets too low. It's a survival thing.

    Are you already at the low end of the BMI scale?

    Just checked her stats. Her height and current weight have her BMI in mid-range normal.
  • Nanananaba
    Nanananaba Posts: 12 Member
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    Thanks for your replies everyone! I’m 30 years old, and yes, have never experience that my period being late this much (i probably have experienced maybe one or two days of delays when i was teen but not so sure). Pregnancy test was done in the morning when i woke up with the first urine (googled it so i knew) 🤔 i can test again but not so sure if it is the case because it came out negative previously, and I absolutely have any other signs that i maybe pregnant.
    Just one more thing that may have caused this delay is antibiotic pills that i’ve been taking twice a day for a full week. I had minor infection in my ear and doctor prescribes those pills but didn’t mention about side effects. But i’ve had experienced side effects from those pills (fever, nausea and mood swing, mainly. These made me think i thought i maybe pregnant but pregnacy test was negative). I googled the specific name of the pill and confirmed that what i experienced was some side effects that quite common. But no search mentioned that this antibiotic can cause the delay menstruation cycle.
    When I googled IF diet’s side effect though, missing period was on the list. So i ended up posting here wanting to see if anyone have experienced this during their specific diet. 😯 i know i only did it for a week. I ate about 1300kcal a day, workout only twice during that week. Too bad i’m off from the diet so soon. I was feeling great during that time. I’ll have to see my doctor if i miss my period again next month. 😞 thank you!
  • belleflop
    belleflop Posts: 154 Member
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    IF isn't a diet, it's just a pattern of eating to help create a caloric deficit primarily for most people to lose weight. Doctors going to have more answers than google, follow others advise.
  • babydaisy81
    babydaisy81 Posts: 218 Member
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    Any time I have been on antibiotics, the pharmacist has said that it pretty much VOIDS the birth control if you were on it, you may want to try another test. The way my eating habits work I am pretty much IF at 16:8 as well, and its probably not drastic enough to mess with your cycle - but agree with others to also check with your Dr. if you have one available.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Any time I have been on antibiotics, the pharmacist has said that it pretty much VOIDS the birth control if you were on it, you may want to try another test. The way my eating habits work I am pretty much IF at 16:8 as well, and its probably not drastic enough to mess with your cycle - but agree with others to also check with your Dr. if you have one available.

    Yeah, that rang a bell for me too...
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
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    I always miss a cycle when I start a calorie deficit. It just appears to be how my body reacts to the stress.

    You didn't break your cycle with a week of IF. Our bodies are much more resilient than that. There are numerous possible reasons for a delayed start, most of them nothing to be concerned about. However, if you are in doubt, obviously a trip to your doctor is a good idea.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,687 Member
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    It could be stress. I used to skip periods whenever I was in a high stress situation or at a time of change in my life.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,009 Member
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    pafagel wrote: »
    nutmegoreo wrote: »
    pafagel wrote: »
    If you're worried, talk to your doctor. Missed periods are a known side effect of IF. Here's an article about IF for women: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-for-women#bottom-line

    That days there's anecdotal reports. It doesn't say anything about how many anecdotes, nor how many calories the women who report this wete consuming or for how long.

    ...

    Yes, the author calls them anecdotal, but they also see fit to mention them in the article in question, and at least one other author mentions it in an other article on the subject on the same site. My point is, it's been known to happen.

    But of course there are many thing that can effect your period. Stress, for example, is known to mess with your period, and a missed period causes stress. Hang in there.

    Pretty much any two things you can think of have been known to happen together. That doesn't mean one caused the other. Correlation in small N of cases with no control isn't proof of anything, much less causation. Plural of anecdote isn't data.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
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    Ive done fasting all my life and its never caused issues for me.